Aftershocks
by Senashenta
Summary: An earthquake rocks Haven, and from the rubble Seth Wilshire is rescued and taken to the Collegium for Healing. There, he must come to terms with the loss of his parents, the sort-of death of his twin sister, Sara, and the fact that not one, but TWO Companions seem absolutely dead-set on Choosing him.
1. On Silver and Smithing

**Disclaimer:** Valdemar and concepts belong to Mercedes Lackey this fic and original characters belong to their author.

**Notes:** Something that just kind of came to me last night. The name Seth Wilshire just popped into my head, followed closely by the name Sara Wilshire, and just now the name Tanay. And my brother came up with Chaice. They then banded together to demand a story. And as usual when my alters are being demandypants, I caved in. :P lol.

Anyway, _Aftershocks_ is going to be pretty short for a chaptered fic, probably three or four chapters. Unless something happens and the story gets away from me, which has happened before. In that case... who knows? Haha.

**AFTERSHOCKS  
Chapter 1: On Silver and Smithing  
By Senashenta**

The middle-to-high-class section of Haven was by far a step up from where Seth Wilshire had grown up. That didn't necessarily make it _better_, though. Seth had _liked _his family's old home in Doe Run. It had been comfortable—not to mention where all of his_ friends_ were.

But, his parents had pointed out, Haven wasn't _that far_ from Doe Run, so he could always go back and visit. That was what horses were for. And on top of that, Sara was of course still with him—as his twin sister he would never be rid of her even if he wanted to be.

In fact, Seth and Sara were practically inseparable. Sara had been born half a candlemark before him, and they would both be turning sixteen years old in the fall. The two of them shared a kind of bond that one else seemed to understand or comprehend—one where they always knew what the other was feeling, where they were and what they were doing, and could practically read each other's thoughts.

This meant that even though they had been forced to leave their school and their friends behind, they at least had each other. The downside to it was that they could never _get away from each other_, no matter how much they might want to at any given moment in time. Luckily for them, they rarely fought and even more rarely craved Alone Time.

"You missed a spot. By his shoulder."

"Quit it. Do you want to do this?"

"Just pointing it out." Sara was standing by the doorway to the small stable that was attached to the side of their new house, watching Seth groom one of the family's two horses—a gentle gelding called Stone—and, of course, adding her two coppers as well. "By his ribs there, see?"

"Yeah yeah," Seth rolled his eyes and slid the brush down to catch the invisible bits of dirt that Sara was somehow, magically seeing, then returned to Stone's shoulder. "You could brush out Brooke, if you've got the time to stand around and critique my grooming abilities."

Sara laughed at that, but pushed off the doorframe, moving over to pick up another brush and then settling herself in the next stall along with the young mare who called it home. Brooke perked noticeably at the sight of the comb.

"She knows how to look grateful."

"So does Stone, in his own way."

The reason their family had moved to Haven in the first place was for their father's job. While they had been young he had been a simple tinker, working for the people of Doe Run and nothing more. But the last couple of years he had been learning new skills and putting them to the test. Now he was an accomplished silversmith.

The problem was that the market for a silversmith in Doe Run was nonexistent. If they had stayed there, their father would have been resigned to being a tinker for the rest of his life—and that was clearly not what he wanted. So after much discussion, it had been decided that the family was going to move to Haven and open a business there.

Despite all the negatives that Seth and Sara saw in the move, they both had to admit that there were positives as well.

Haven was amazing. _Huge_ and bustling with activity and so different from where they had grown up that it boggled the mind. Sara had found the shopping district in record time. She had practically gotten lost there, only coming home when their parents had sent Seth to find her and drag her back.

As for Seth himself, he had very quickly located a nearby park where he could go riding, and now made it a habit of taking either Stone or Brook there each afternoon for exercise.

And of course, soon they would have to start school again, this time at the Collegium. Normally, going to school wasn't something either of them would be all that excited about—but this was _the Collegium_, where there were Healers, Bards, Heralds and, of course, Companions. Neither of them had ever seen a real Companion before and they were both looking forward to it.

"Hey, do you think it's the same as grooming a horse?"

"What?"

"A Companion. Do you think it's the same?"

"Hm. I don't see why not." Seth shrugged, then chuckled when Stone craned his neck around to snuffle at his hair for a moment. "They look like horses, right? They'd still need combed and curried and everything. Especially since they're white." Stone was chestnut and Brooke was roan—and Seth was glad that it was that way. White horses were a pain to _keep_ white. He wondered if it was the same with Companions, of if something about them helped keep them the bright silver-white they supposedly were.

"You looking forward to school?"

"What do you think?"

Seth lapsed into silence for a long moment, then sighed. "I'm good with school, I just hate maths."

"You suck at maths, too."

"Gee, thanks, sis." Grumpy.

Sara gave a grin, then stuck her tongue out, the motion cheeky. "I dunno, Seth. I think it could be fun, seeing the Collegium and making new friends."

When he thought about it, Sara was right. He had to look at it like a new chapter in his life, a new adventure. That didn't mean that he was necessarily _happy_ about all the recent changes, but Seth figured he could probably deal with them, one way or another.

A snort from Stone brought him out of his thoughts. Seth blinked, eyes focussing again. The horse was shuffling—one foot stamped restlessly, and his ears swivelled back and forth. Seth's hand, the one holding the brush, slowed and then stopped. Stone was acting strange.

Another snort, this time from Brooke, made him frown and look toward the next stall. Brooke was rattling around too, stamping and whuffing and looking uncomfortable, maybe even anxious. Sara was watching her with a confused expression, obviously wondering what was wrong.

"What—"

And then the ground began to shake.

Startled, Stone whinnied sharply and Seth quickly backed out of the stall, currycomb still clutched in one hand.

Next door, Sara quickly made her way out of Brooke's stall, too. "What's—?" She began—then stopped herself before she could finish the question. The stable was trembling, rocking on its foundation—and it was obvious what was happening, even though they had never lived through one before.

An earthquake.

Dust and dirt from the roof rained down on them—and Seth reached quickly to grab hold of his sister's arm, then dragged her toward the nearest doorway. Even though they were twins and she was older, Seth was still taller than Sara, and once they were beneath the doorframe he pushed her back into it and brought his arms up to shield them both from the debris falling around them.

In their stalls, the horses were flat-out panicking now. Stone, normally calm and complacent, threw himself forward against the door, attempting to get out—

And that was when the ground beneath the stable ripped open.

Seth watched, horrified, as Stone tumbled into the widening chasm and Brooke followed close after him. Suddenly the thought that they weren't any safer in the doorway than they had been by the stalls entered his head—and he grabbed hold of Sara again, intending to pull her out of the stable entirely.

"We've got to get out of—!"

His sentence was cut off when the ground at their feet shuddered again—and the next thing either of them knew, they were falling. Everything happened quickly after that.

Seth fell for what felt like forever, and when he landed he wished momentarily he was still falling.

He collided with an outcropping of rock partway down the chasm that had once been their new home, hitting hard and fast enough to drive the breath from his lungs and shatter bone. The landing left him dazed, and he clung to his little patch of ground as everything around him continued to quake violently, more rocks and timber, pieces of buildings and roads tumbling down around him and on top of him.

When it finally ended he was half-buried in debris, barely able to breathe through dirt-clogged lungs. Once his head cleared, he took a moment to take stock of himself before he attempted to move: he had inhaled a lot of dirt and dust, but that wasn't much more than a minor annoyance.

What was more concerning were the probably-broken ribs and his left leg, which was bleeding profusely. When he finally did move, it screamed at him for the effort, leaving him to believe that something was seriously broken there, too.

Both arms and his other leg, however, seemed alright. Otherwise he was covered in cuts, scrapes and bruises, but he would live.

His next thoughts turned to his sister.

"Sara?" His voice came out rough and weak as he pushed himself up on his elbows to look around. "Sara!"

There was no answer at first—just silence, and his own rough breathing. Leaning up on his elbows was forcing air from his lungs and making his ribs throb, so he finally let himself fall back again.

How long he was there after that, Seth wasn't sure. It could have been minutes, hours or days as far as he was concerned. He drifted in and out of consciousness the entire time, still losing blood from his various wounds and edging closer to death the longer he was stuck there. And there was still no sign of Sara. He could only hope she was in a better situation than he currently was.

_:There you are!:_

The voice was bright and sharp and sounded strange to his ears. Seth struggled back to wakefulness, swimming up from the darkness until he was conscious again, albeit still hazy. "Who…?"

_:I've been looking for hours!:_

Seth's eyes cracked open. Twenty feet above him, at the edge of the rift he was trapped in, a pair of bright, sapphire blue eyes stared back at him. They weren't familiar—belonged to someone he didn't know.

_:But you do know me.:_ The voice again, sounding warm and comforting and welcoming. _:Of course you know me… Chosen.:_


	2. On Earthquakes and Companions

**Disclaimer:** Valdemar and concepts belong to Mercedes Lackey; this fic and original characters belong to their author.

**Notes:** I was gone from the Valdemar writing community for a long time, and now that I'm back I'm sad to say it's not nearly as active as it used to be. I miss reviews, concrit and other community interactions as well as the other authors. Right now Shaelesand and I are the only ones of the older hay-day authors that still seem to be writing, unfortunately. Where u at, etcetera-cat, Firefox, Fireblade, etc.? D:

**AFTERSHOCKS  
Chapter 2: On Earthquakes and Companions  
By Senashenta**

It took almost two candlemarks worth of work to pull Seth out of the pit he was trapped in. While his rescuers struggled to dig him free and haul him back to the surface, Seth continued to drift in and out. All he was really aware of, though, even when he_ was_ awake, was that he couldn't see Sara anywhere and she wasn't answering when he called out for her.

The only thing that kept him from panicking outright at her silence was the fact that he could still feel her in the back of his mind, the same way he had been able to ever since they had been born. She was still there, even though he couldn't actually lay eyes on her. That didn't tell him if she was hurt or not, though.

_:It's okay. You're okay, Seth.: _The same voice as from before.

_What about Sara? _Seth asked. He was fighting to keep his eyes from rolling into the back of his head, struggling to stay conscious again and didn't even realize that he hadn't actually spoken out loud.

_:Your sister is… fine.: _The voice replied, sounding hesitant. He didn't think he believed it entirely, but he wasn't really in any condition to argue, and besides that, the people who were dragging him out of the crater that used to be the stables were finally getting him back up and into the world again.

They heaved him up over the edge of the pit and he half-flopped onto the ground with a groan, the sunlight burning his eyes and the dirt and dust making him hack and cough. One of his rescuers made an offhand comment that he should "get it all out, boy!" and sat him up—he had to be held in a sitting position, as he was too weak to keep himself up—then patted his back until the coughing fit was finished. Both the movement and the smacks to his back made pain lance through his body, but he didn't complain—he didn't have the breath to. He was thankful when they lowered him back down to the ground, though.

The rest happened almost too quickly for him to follow: one minute he was sprawled in the dirt, struggling to breathe, and the next he was being hefted up, one person on either side of him, holding him upright, and half-carried to the street. There he was quickly, carefully loaded into a waiting wagon, laid out on what felt like a straw mattress and covered up with a light blanket. Then the people who had helped him thus far abandoned the wagon once more—and a short moment later it began to move, heading down what was left of the cobblestone road beyond his family's home.

Hoof beats in the front of the wagon he was in echoed in his head, but it was the ones following along _behind _them that really drew his attention. They were lighter, bell-like and completely different from what he had always known. Seth cracked his eyes open again, his vision blurry, and lifted his head to try to look downward.

_:Lay your head back down, Chosen. Rest.:_

Despite the confusion-causing concussion and the way his head was spinning, Seth somehow managed to ask another coherent question before he lost the battle and passed out completely: _who are you…?_

There was a brief pause, then, _:Tanay. My name is Tanay.:_

o-o-o-o-o

He dreamt of nothing—just shadows and blackness and Sara's voice calling out to him from the void. It made him toss in his sleep, limbs thrashing, bandages tightening and catching in the blankets. He didn't register the pain, though, only the desperation in his sister's voice and the fact that no matter how he tried, he couldn't reach far enough into the inky black to find her, to touch her hands and bring her out of the dark.

And then, from nowhere, there was light. It pierced the darkness and cast out the shadows, bright and blinding white, warm and welcoming sapphire—shining salvation and infinite, endless love.

Seth woke to that light, jerking out of the sucking dream-world and back into the land of the living. Groggy at first, he shifted, trying to pull the sheets up farther—and then stopped when pain flared in his side, his ribs screaming at him to _stay still, dammit. _Groaning, Seth let his arms fall back to his sides and instead blinked a few times until his vision cleared a bit, then looked around himself, disoriented.

The room he was in was small with stone walls and a window in one wall. He couldn't see what was beyond it from where he was, but the sun was shining through the glass, giving the room a warm, faded feeling. The bed he was in was against another wall, and a second bunk was across from his, though it was currently unoccupied. An abstract tapestry in shades of green and brown was hung over the fireplace in the corner.

He was closing his eyes again, exhausted just from casting his gaze around the room, when the door opened abruptly. Half-startled, Seth jumped the slightest bit—and winced at the movement, even as a woman in Healer's Greens bustled into the room. She was carrying a tray full of bandages and bottles and gave a pleased smile when she realized he was watching her.

"Ah, good. Tanay said you were awake finally. Seth, right?" Seth was silent while the woman carried the tray over and set it down on the empty bed. A glass of water was the first thing she plucked from it, and she was quick to stride across the room and offer it to him. "You've been out for two days, you know. We were starting to get worried about you. You hit your head pretty hard, after all."

Still bleary, Seth swallowed, his mouth dry as parchment paper, and swallowed a mouthful of water gratefully when she held the glass up to his lips—then two more a moment later before finally mumbling, "I hit my head? What happened?"

The woman blinked and lifted one eyebrow, her lips compressing into a thin, concerned line. "You don't remember?" Lifting one hand, she pressed it to his forehead and closed her eyes for a moment before opening them again. "There was an earthquake."

Seth frowned, concentrating, and tried to ignore the way his head was throbbing. "I remember… bits and pieces. I was in the stable grooming Stone. Sara was there… and then everything started to shake…" The more he thought the more his head throbbed. "Then I was falling… and Sara…" Trailing off, he shook his head. "I really hit my head that hard…?"

"Apparently." The woman was still looking concerned and turned back to the tray of bottles and remedies, quickly fishing out a small vial of dark green liquid. She brought it over and pressed it to Seth's lips. "Drink. It tastes vile, but it will help with the headache." And when he downed the potion, nearly gagging on it in the process, she finally smiled again, though it was still clearly reserved. "My name is Ryn. I'll be looking after you for the rest of your stay here at Healers'."

Seth immediately and vehemently wished that he hadn't drunk the Green Potion, as it felt very much as if the drink had tried to strip the surface from his tongue. What he _could_ say for it was that it did what Ryn had said it would—his migraine was beginning to fade already. "…wait… there was a wagon… right?"

"Mmhm." Ryn was back going through the contents of the tray again. "Yes, that's how you got here. Of course, Tanay would much rather have brought you in herself, but given your condition that just wasn't feasible." And then, "I have to check your bandages now, Seth."

What followed that statement was a lengthy and intimate examination of his entire body, which, had he not been in so exhausted and in so much pain, Seth probably would have found next thing to humiliating. As it was, he drifted in and out of wakefulness as Ryn checked him over, cleaned his wounds and changed all of his bandages. Now that his head didn't hurt anymore, he was starting to become sleepy again.

During his bouts of consciousness, he quickly learned the extent of his injuries: nearly all of his ribs were broken on his left side, as well as one on his right. His left leg was also badly broken, the bones below his knee shattered. He had apparently landed on that side when he fell—it was his left side that had the most cuts and scrapes, too, though he was bruised all over.

Ryn told him, as she re-bandaged his leg, that they had Healed him as much as they could with Gifts. The rest of the mending was up to his own body. She assured him that his ribs would be good as new in time—and that he would walk again, though most likely with a limp. She also told him that he was lucky to have kept the leg at all—for the first few hours they hadn't been sure that he would, so a limp was getting off easy.

"That should do it for now."

Seth was relieved when Ryn uttered those words, and even more so when the blankets were pulled up around his chest again. His wounds were cleaned and salved, his bandages changed for fresh clean ones. The last thing Ryn did was force him to swallow down another potion—one to help him sleep this time—before she began tidying the room up in preparation to leave.

With the tray in her hands again, she moved toward the door—then paused and looked back at him, tilting her head slightly. "You know, Tanay is out in the garden. Would you like me to open the window for her?"

Tanay—that name again. He vaguely remembered it from before—in Haven. And Ryn had said it earlier, too. Seth frowned in confusion as he searched the fragmented memories of the previous few days, but nothing popped out at him except for a strange, shimmering light and a heavy, important feeling deep in his mind, in his heart, in his very being.

"Who is… Tanay?"

Surprise overtook Ryn's face and her eyebrows jumped upward. "Who is—? Oh, _for crying out loud_." Shaking her head, she glanced toward the window, then set the tray down again and crossed the room. Pulling the glass pane upward, she propped it open, then leaned the top half of her body out into the garden beyond.

"Tanay!" Her voice had a cross, exasperated edge to it. "Get your shiny white rump over here and_ explain_ yourself to this poor boy already!"

o-o-o-o-o

As it turned out, Tanay was a Companion. More precisely, _his _Companion.

The mare followed Ryn's orders quickly—probably spurred on by the irritation in her voice—and even as the Healer was carrying her tray of medicines off out the door, Tanay was sticking her head in through the open window. For a split second, Seth wondered if one of the potions he'd been given was making him hallucinate—or if he was already asleep again and dreaming.

But he did remember a bit—a Voice calling out to him when he'd been trapped in the chasm following the earthquake, and somehow he was sure that he wasn't imagining _that_. So Tanay had to be real, which was what his heart and soul were telling him anyway, as he met and held her gaze with his own.

_:I am sorry I did not come for you sooner, Chosen. If I had arrived before the earthquake…: _Her words had a guilty tone to them. _:But you survived and I am here now. I am Tanay, as Healer Ryn told you. And you are my Chosen, Seth.:_

He had gathered that already, but it was still surreal to hear it said. Swallowing thickly, Seth shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts a bit—he was beginning to feel foggy again as Ryn's last potion started to take effect. "Tanay…"

_:Yes, Chosen?:_

"Tell me… where my sister is."

There was a vague feeling of surprise from the mare, which was followed quickly by concern, and then a kind of nothingness when she quite obviously clamped down on her Sendings. Seth frowned a little and opened his mouth to ask again, but she interrupted before he could say anything. _:We can talk about that later, Seth.:_ And then there was light, pushing feeling in his head as she nudged him toward unconsciousness. _:Sleep for now.:_

He slept.

o-o-o-o-o

_:Hey, Seth?:_

_What… Sara? Is that you?_

_:Of course it's me. Who else would it be?:_

_I was starting to think you were gone!_

_:Gone? Gone where?:_

_I don't—I don't know, really._

_:Well, don't be ridiculous, Seth. I'm right here.:_

_Of… of course you are._

_:Of course I am.:_

_Yeah…_

_:I'm always here, Seth. Always.:_


	3. On Healing and Sisters

**Disclaimer:** Valdemar and concepts belong to Mercedes Lackey; this fic and original characters belong to their author.

**Notes:** Hmm… haven't gotten anything posted in a while. I'm not entirely sure why. I guess I just haven't felt much like writing the last bit. I've been really tired and doing a lot of sleeping instead. =/

Anyway, meet Rosie Harker and Miska, whom I pretty much just made up on the spot here. :P lol.

**AFTERSHOCKS  
Chapter Three: On Healing and Sisters  
By Senashenta**

It was just under ten hours later when Seth woke again, this time to Ryn rapping on the door and then letting herself in, once more carrying a tray of various medical supplies and concoctions. She set the tray on a side-table, then set about mixing up what was sure to be another vile-tasting potion. Seth considered closing his eyes and pretending to be asleep again just to get out of taking it, then changed his mind when his various aches and pains began to make themselves known again.

So instead he cast a quick, groggy glance toward the window, confirming that Tanay had left at some point while he had been asleep, then licked his lips and offered, "come to torture me again, I take it?"

"That's my job." Ryn's reply held a hint of amusement. She turned to regard him critically for a moment before setting the bottles and potions aside. A moment later she was touching his forehead, eyes closed and clearly Feeling for something—but when she didn't seem to find anything, she withdrew her hand again. "Well, your head is better at least. You had a bit of backlash shock earlier, but it's faded now. Do you still have a headache?"

"A little bit… yeah." Seth lifted one arm and brought his own hand up to push his hair out of his eyes, then winced when his ribs protested the movement. "What's backlash shock?"

"Mm…" Ryn considered for a moment, trying to decide the best way to explain. "It's when psychic energy leaves burns in your mind. Yours was minor." Waving absently, she tilted her head. "Do you think you're up to sitting up for a minute? I'd like to check your back and redo your bandages."

It took Seth a minute to reply to that one. With how his ribs were feeling and his legs bandaged to the point of practically being immobile he wasn't sure if he _could _sit up, never mind if he was up to it. But he supposed he could give it a try at the very least.

"I'll need some help…"

"Of course." Turning a little, Ryn reached to pull the door open before leaning out into the hallway. "Come on in, Rosie." Standing aside, she allowed a petite blonde girl in Heraldic-Trainee Grey's into the room. The girl smiled, lifting one hand to give a little wave, even as Ryn was introducing her: "Seth, this is Rose. She's a got the Healer's Gift so she trains here with us part of the time." And then, "Rosie, this is Seth."

"Pleased to meet you." Rosie held a hand out, grasped his when he did the same, then shook them gently, careful not to jostle him too much. "You can call me Rosie. I only get called Rose when I'm in trouble… or visiting my family." She gave a half-grin, "The Holderkin aren't really into nicknames."

"Somehow that doesn't surprise me." Seth returned her smile as he took back his hand. From what he knew about the Holderkin they weren't really into a lot of things. "Nice to meet you, too."

"Alright, introductions made." Ryn clapped her hands, then rubbed them together. "Rosie, we're going to sit Seth up so I can check his back and ribs and re-bandage them. Take an arm and we can lever him up. Be careful, though, he's got a lot of healing breaks right now."

"Right."

Friendly as she appeared, Rosie was suddenly all business. She took hold of one of his arms, Ryn took the other, and then they both very carefully helped him sit up, legs swinging slowly over the edge of the bed. Seth tried very hard not to show how much it hurt just to move that much—but couldn't help wincing and the soft hissed curses that escaped his lips.

Rosie gave him a sympathetic look, then hefted a little more and the next thing he knew he was seated properly. Which was about when he realized he wasn't wearing anything _besides _the bandages. Flushing red, Seth quickly jerked the sheets over his lap, sending another sharp pain across his ribs even as Rosie was rolling her eyes and waving a dismissive hand.

Ryn chuckled and assured him that he didn't have anything either of them hadn't seen before, which really didn't make him feel much better about the entire situation, though considering they were Healers he had to concede that she was probably right.

_:Of course she's right. One thing you do need to learn is that Healers are pretty much always right.: _Tanay's Voice piped up abruptly, out of nowhere and a little startling. It was going to take Seth a while to get used to sharing his head with someone other than Sara. _:For that matter, so are Companions. Companions are pretty much always right, too. That would be a good thing to make note of right now.:_

The teasing overtone to her words made his lips quirk upward slightly, and both Ryn and Rosie gave him knowing looks. Of course, given that they lived, worked and trained at the Collegia, they would know the look of someone talking with their Companion more than anyone—Rosie especially, since she was Chosen herself.

_:Miska says Rosie thinks you're cute.: _Tanay interjected again, making Seth jerk and blush once more._ :She's already planning to marry her off to you. Honestly, she's such a matchmaker it's ridiculous sometimes.: _And then, with a sly little Feeling, _:ooooh, but you think Rosie's cute, too, don't you? Hey Miska, guess what—:_

"_Tanay!_"

Seth yelped the protest out loud, then very much regretted it between the pain that shot up his side and the amused expression on Ryn's face. Rosie, for her part, was beginning to look a little flustered herself, which probably meant that her own Companion was teasing her the same as Tanay was him—or at the very least relaying the conversation.

Seth thought he might just like to crawl under the bed and die of embarrassment right then and there, but instead he got to sit, still doing a credible imitation of a beet, while Ryn and Rosie—who was _also_ still burning red—removed his bandages and checked him over.

He decided that next time he saw Tanay, he was going to kill her.

o-o-o-o-o

_:Seth and Ro-sie sitting in a tree~:_

_Sara! Quit it!_

_:But it's so cute, Seth! The last girl you had a crush on was two years ago!:_

_Y-yeah, well, I'm getting enough of this from Tanay!_

_:Right… Tanay.:_

…_Sara?_

_:It's nothing, Seth. Go to sleep before your head explodes from all that blushing.:_

_Sara—!_

o-o-o-o-o

It was another week of visits from Ryn and Rosie, potions, bandages and healing and merciless teasing from his sister and Companion before Seth was finally allowed out of Healers' for a while. He could still barely walk, and not without help, but he was beginning to go stir-crazy—and finally Ryn agreed to let him go out into the garden for an afternoon. She thought it might be good for him to spend more time with Tanay, anyway.

So a short hobble later—aided by his caregivers, of course—found him seated comfortably on a bench in the gardens outside of the Healers' Collegium, leaning back slightly with his face turned to the sky. He took a few deep breaths of fresh air, then turned his attention to the sound of hoof beats in the grass as they approached from the general direction of Companion's Field.

It was funny, but even though every Companion was the same silver-white and boasted crystal blue eyes, he could somehow, miraculously, recognize Tanay when she came around the corner, ears perked and tail flagging in the wind, clearly happy to see him out and about rather than completely bedridden.

_:Seth! Why didn't you tell me you were coming out? I had to hear it from Miska—:_

"Sorry." Seth winced a little, even as Tanay was slowing to a stop in front of him. She craned her neck to nuzzle into his shoulder gently and he lifted one hand to touch along her cheek. "I'm still getting used to sharing my brain with someone other than Sara."

There was a short silence at that, then Tanay whuffed softly against his shirt and closed her eyes.

_:…Seth, about your sister…:_

Seth was mostly focussed on running his fingers through her mane, so his reply was an absent, "hm?"

Tanay shook her head, though, and stepped back to look at him properly. _:Chosen, pay attention. This is important. It's… about Sara.:_

Blinking, Seth let his arm fall back down, eyebrows lifting in surprise. "What about her? Can I see her finally? I know I can't walk much, but she could come here, couldn't she? I mean—or is she hurt, too? Is she in Healers' like me? Maybe I could get Rosie to find her for m—"

_:Seth,: _Tanay's Voice was suddenly subdued, and the change made him pause, a frown tugging at his lips. _:Your sister… how do I say this?: _The mare shifted anxiously. _:Chosen… Sara… she didn't—she didn't make it.:_ And then, as if to clarify what she was saying: _:Sara died in the earthquake, along with your parents.:_

o-o-o-o-o

_Sara, what's she _talking _about?_

_:I don't know, Seth. I'm right here, the same as always.:_

_Right. I know that. But Tanay thinks—_

_:Does it matter what she thinks?:_

_She's my—_

_:I know, but she's obviously wrong.:_

_Yeah, but…_

_:I'm here, Seth. I'm here. And I'm not going anywhere.:_


End file.
